And the PW reviewer says...

These are my favorite bits:

~...worthy attempt at Young Adult fantasy.

~...an entertaining read...

~Una’s first person narration increases character development, but as enjoyable as the story is...

Okay, now let's put these into context:

An entirely familiar storyline (Harry Potter) hampers an otherwise worthy attempt at Young Adult fantasy. Varuna Kannon (Una to her friends) discovers on her 14th birthday that she is a Guardian, an individual with magical powers that control and protect the environment. Angry at her parents and uncomfortable with her new station in life, she begrudgingly packs her belongings and joins her best friend, Reed, on a ship, to complete their first year of Guardian training. The night of the departure, the ship is attacked, and Una’s parents are presumed dead. Gossip abounds that the evil Malovious, a banished Guardian, is behind the attack. While learning magical lessons in controlling Earth, Fire, Water, Air and Spirit, Una must deal with the loss of her parents, a snotty fellow student named Lilith who is determined to make her life unbearable, and the rumor that one of her classmates may be the foretold Paladin, a Guardian with the power to stop Malovious once and for all. While an entertaining read, this is a highly predictable and recognizable plot. Una’s first person narration increases character development, but as enjoyable as the story is, it lacks originality.

Sigh.

Actually, my skin barely prickled as I read this. The HP reference was a given by this time around, so I was simply focusing on the other bits.

I LOVE that the PW reviewer appeared to have read the whole MS, enjoyed it, and didn't screw up any of the details they included in the review.

That was nice :)

Bottom line for me after three ABNA attempts with this MS, I will shop it around until the end of this year, but I'm done with revising it.

(Okay, maybe a teeny tiny more tweeking in the first chapter, but that's it!!!)

I may have to put Una on ice for a while until Harry Potter feels more distant.

About a decade ought to do it.

I have to remind myself that I started down this road as a way to improve my skills as writer because what I REALLY wanted to write was adult fiction, and most likely humorous Chic-lit stuff, but not too fluffy.

That's what I did for my NaNo project last year and it felt like I was inhaling air with much more oxygen in it than when I wrote Varuna.

I still have a soft spot for Varuna, but only time will tell if she was more than a three year exercise in becoming a better writer.

Peace

A Pink American